Good at sports or good at academics?

[Anonymous]

Academics of course, but your post comes off as a little judgemental. There are certain kids that are encouraged to do sports because for health reasons or because it keeps them out of trouble. My middle daughter does club soccer and club swimming, so she has organized sports activities 6 days a week minimum. Our doctor encouraged us to do that though because she was obese a few years ago. All the activity has really helped her control her weight. She is off the charts smart and very motivated though so she has no issue getting her work done, and is doing very well in school. My other middle child is not as school smart, but is very gifted at a few sports. We encourage him to do sports because it’s helped build his confidence and keeps him out of trouble. He is not as good at managing his time, so we’ve told him that unless he gets better at time management he’s going to have to drop down to only one rec sport a season once he gets to highschool (no more club sports). My eldest is in highschool, and she does marching band which practices five days a week for two hours during football season. She is killing it at school, and being in band has given her a great social circle. Even if it was a sport instead of a academic activity, I would encourage her to keep doing it because the social impacts of quitting would be very bad for her. When she didn’t have band last year, she used to just play video games for several hours a day. Band gives her something productive to spend her time on.